Come With Me Now
by Unrenowned-Writer
Summary: Waking up in a strange and unfamiliar place a young woman by the name of CJ struggles to keep herself together as she finds that she has woken up on an earth very different to the one she knows. What will happen when she meets the Dragon Ball Gang while possessing knowledge of all their futures? Can she keep history on track while trying to go home or will things get more derailed?
1. Prologue

Come with me now - A Dragonball Fanfic

Chapter Zero: Prologue

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Have you ever just known, before you even open your eyes that you were going to have a bad day? I could sometimes, and I could just tell today was not going to be good. I guess you could call it a woman's intuition, or a college kid realizing their procrastination finally caught up to them during final's week. I shifted around to try to wake up my muscles and take note that I had fallen asleep sitting up. I groan, irritated by this factoid, as my stiff limbs ache in pain whenever they are moved or flexed. I try to recall what class I was studying for to more accurately gauge just how screwed I am, but I cannot. I completely blank on what class I have finals for today. I can't even remember what day of the week it is.

I groan once more and rub the sleep from my eyes. I didn't have my glasses on, so how the heck could I have been studying? I hope they didn't fall off my face and break. With more annoyances to add to the fire, I groggily stretched my noodle arms to the desk in front of me to hopefully fine the nerd frame glasses I've been using for the past two years. However, my arms only waved around in the air, never making contact with my glasses, or even a desk for that matter. I rub more sleep from my eye before finally giving in and opening them.

What I saw, was almost complete darkness with only a blurry red dot in front of me. The first thing that jumps to my mind is a light from one the consoles in my room, but just one light? I blink once or twice, allowing some of the blur to go away. It wasn't a dot in front of me, the blur of unused eyes and the cloud of sleep had warped my perception. What I saw in the darkness was a red window allowing only small amounts of light through.

This was unfamiliar to me. What I saw in front of me shouldn't be there. My heart began to race in my chest as panic set in. The only thing I wanted at that moment was out. I squirm with aching limbs to get closer to the window and hit it with all my might. The window didn't even crack, but some seem around it budged with the hit. A hope glimmered inside me. I hit the window again, push on it, do anything I can to get it to open.

Tears soon began to prick my eyes when little progress had been made. I didn't want to be trapped in here. I never had a problem with small spaces before, but this felt almost like I had been buried alive, a cause of death that had always unnerved me. I push at the window more, throwing my shoulder into it with as much force as I could manage. I cried and prayed for this thing to open up and let me out, and with the sound of shattering rock, my prayers where answered.

Though being sent tumbling out onto pebble filled puddle isn't exactly the most graceful of exits I could have hoped for, I was ecstatic to be out of that thing. Smiling over my accomplishment I run my hands through my hair in an attempt to calm my nerves a bit. My hair felt grimy but that was only a minor gripe I had, what bugged me was that my hair was shorter than it was supposed to be. I was growing my hair out, it shouldn't be chin length.

So many questions buzzed around in my mind, stringing theories together with half-baked thoughts. Confusion swirled in my head, and sitting around isn't going to clear anything up for me. I pick myself off of it the ground only to freeze upon noticing my reflection in the puddle. What I saw reflected in the water wasn't me. I am a young woman not even old enough to drink yet. What I saw in the shallow pool of water was a stunned girl with an odd sense of fashion. I move my hand to touch the reflection, hoping that it somehow wouldn't mirror me. It did, and I see that on my wrists are the same odd bands shown in the water. When the ripples subsided I hesitantly bring my hand to my face and examine the features of face in the water.

The face was somewhat rounded and extremely youthful, perhaps a middle school student at the cusp of childhood, with dark hair in a short choppy style and with bangs that stop just above equally dark eyes. These features seemed so alien to me, the only thing in the reflection I saw that held any familiarity where the dark circles under the eyes.

I sit in the puddle, staring down at an image that can't be me, and yet it mirrors me perfectly. I look down at the armor clad body that I now control, my mind hallow. This must be a dream. That has to be it, I'm in some weird dream where I'm some little warrior girl. I'll wake up in my bedroom and it will just be another normal day with my family. I nod to the girl in the water with a small smile, that had to be it.

I try to get up off the ground, but once again become frozen, this time from pain. I scream in agony and I reach behind me to swat at whatever hurt me. To my disgust it was a relatively large spider that I sent flying. Upon realizing where it had bitten me, my eyes grew wide. A brown furred tail sat behind me with a developing bug bite near the end. I feel a long it and sure enough it connected to my lower back.

In slight disbelief, I muttered out loud asking myself if I was actually a saiyan. Most the time my dreams were either extremely bizarre or completely mundane, never this middle ground. Than again, I don't ever recall being aware of when I'm dreaming before now. I let out a weak laugh and finally get to my feet. This had to all be a dream. There is no other explanation. Maybe I fell asleep watching Dragonball, that would explain why I had a tail, kinda.

No mater how many times I said it though, the idea of this all just being some dream didn't sit right with me. Taking a shaky breath I try to calm myself. If this isn't a dream than what else could this possibly be? Some kind of coma induced fantasy land? My blood ran cold at that thought. What if I was comatose? How can I get back to my family? How did I even end up like that!?

Taking in shallow breathes, I attempt to be rational and mental retrace my steps up until I found myself trapped in... I look to where I had originally tumbled from and spot a moss covered saiyan pod with the door down and rubble under it. It was then I note the large hole in a cave ceiling with early daylight pouring through to illuminate the room. This is pretty elaborate for a normal dream environment, which only gave more doubt to the dream theory I came up with.

Okay, enough distractions, I have to retrace my steps. I steady my breathing and remember. Sunday, I went to work and after I got off that night I worked a bit on one of my finals. Monday, I went to the campus, attended that carnival thing the college had before going to class. Tuesday, I went to campus... and I don't remember much after that. Tuesday was art so I must have presented. So then, this must be early Wednesday morning.

Once again the only idea I can come up with doesn't seem to be right, I don't know why but it just feels like that's wrong. I growl in frustration, why can't this be a dream that I can wake up from! I want to be home, be with my family and friends. I scream in anger, the emotion just over powered me. All this confusion, doubt, and uncertainty, it infuriated me. Then a small memory came to the forefront of my mind, one from the carnival. I don't know why it did, I don't know why anything is the way it is right now. All I know for sure is that in that instant I remembered the silly fortune I got before class that day. "Endings will always be sad but do not grieve, instead look to the future for new paths to take in a familiar place"

I was as still as a statue for what felt like eons as I let the words sink into my head. And just as time will wither a statue, I too eventually crumbled. Tears flooded from my eyes. My reality was breaking down. Every thing I know, every one I know. As much as I tried to deny everything, I knew in my heart that all the theories I came up with were dead wrong. Dead... That's... I grip my head and shake the thought away, no. That can't seriously be what "endings" meant. It's the end of the semester! That was just some stupid thing that lady said to cheer me up and get me exited for fall semester.

This isn't real. This _can't_ be real. I am Catherine Jane Steele. I am a college student at South Haines University. I am a twenty year old Caucasian female with brown hair and and muddy green eyes. I am not a saiyan child! I am a human being. I'm... I'm...

I went over those facts and many others in a fruitless attempt to give myself comfort. I ended up just bawling my eyes out. Time passed, though I'm not sure how much, and I eventually ran out of tears to shed, leaving me to sit and sulk in self-pity. I rubbed the tears from my no doubt reddened eyes and spot the bracer bound to my wrist. I narrow my eyes at the armor and remove it, along with the other bracer and chest piece, leaving me in only short sleeved leotard. Armor is for warriors, soldiers, killers, I want no part in that senseless violence and blood shed. I cast all the pieces away and am awestruck for a moment when I see the items shrink in size to fit an infant.

My amazement over the armor's elasticity turned to more sorrows. Is it true that I am now a saiyan, far away from my loved ones and happy life back home? Am I really stuck here? A new wave of tears poured down my face. I cried out in vain for my mother and father, like the child I now was. I cried and begged for them but knew they would never come. I sobbed to the stones around me, I told them how much I loved my parent, my siblings, all of my family and friends. I told the cool breezes flowing through the cave how much my family and friends meant to me. I begged them to tell my loved ones how much I cared for them and miss them. I don't want to be alone, but more so I don't want my loved ones to suffer because of my absence.

I kept praying for my loved ones and didn't move for quiet some time. It was the growl of my stomach that knocked me from my trance. My face started to burn as I whipped away the last of the tears. With a deep calming breath I get up and look around the cave for a way out. I glance up at the hole in the ceiling, the sky was still bright and blue but the hole was way to high up to reach. Luck for me however, I could see distant daylight down one of the cave's tunnels.

I walk towards it at first, but once fresh air hit my lungs and I could see green trees outside, I ran. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. Fresh air, daylight, green trees, that's what I needed to lighten my mood a little. I was only a couple strides away from the mouth of the cave when I fell flat on my face. On the bright side, I had no glasses that would have broke from that fall.

Something rolling caught my ear. I dust myself off after a minute and look back to find what made me trip in the first place. I saw a little orange orb on the ground and my eyes grew wide. Cautiously I go to pick it up, and study it intently. What was in my hands was a bright orange orb with five beautiful stars in it. I marvel at the orb, it had such a simple beauty to it. Is this a real dragonball? The idea of holding the genuine thing, it almost frightened me.

What actually startled me however, was when the orb began to glow. I stare dumbfounded that it actually glowed, and felt my heart stop when I heard approaching footstep. I scurry quietly to the wall of the cave tunnel and chance a peek outside. Out there I see a familiar looking blue haired teen girl messing with something in her hand.

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 **A/N: So here's a prologue to a story I had bugging me. I didn't want the idea to completely die so I typed up the prologue to get some opinions on it and see if anyone would want to read it. These kinds of stories are a (not super secret) guilty pleasure of mine, and if you don't like it, I'm not making you read it. To each his own. I'll be posting this on both deviantArt under the name DorkyLittleDemon, and FanFiction with the pen name Unrenowned-Writer**

 **Dragonball © Akira Toriyama**


	2. Chapter One

Come with me now - A Dragonball Fanfic

Chapter One

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I couldn't get my body to budge from my spot peering around the corner, the sheer shock of what, or rather _who_ I was seeing left me locked in place. I blinked a few times to see if my eyes were playing a trick on me, but no, the teenaged girl with pulled back blue hair remained visible. She had her eyes glued to the gadget in her hand while walking up to the mouth of the cave that I had found myself in. I didn't know what to do, take the dragonball and run maybe? Ditch the thing and hide? Let her find me? I don't know if it was from my childish behaviors that stuck with me into my young adulthood or my anxieties that have been running rampant all day, but hiding felt like the best option to me. My stomach roared out in hunger before I could move a muscle, which caught the ear and attention of the girl genius that had been up until now absentmindedly striding up to the cave.

I ducked back into the cave a second too late, the teen had already looked up and saw me. Anxiety held my mind in a vice grip while I looked for a place to hide. Alas, there were no large rocks to hide behind at the entrance of the cave. My heart beat picked up as footsteps outside quickened and voice called out to me. Biting my lip I stay close to the wall of the tunnel waiting for the girl to round the corner, even if I did try to run I wouldn't make it very far before running out of breath or energy.

"Hey kid," the girl called out to me once more as she entered the cave, "what on Earth are you doing way out here?" I unintentionally cower away from both her and the question. How could I answer that question when I didn't even have an answer for myself? I looked down at my feet while fiddling with the orb in my hands, when I finally got up the nerve to tell her I don't know why I'm out here my voice was hoarse and pathetic from crying. "You don't..." her thought trailed off and quickly replaced it with a new question, "Hey, what's that you're holding?"

My gaze travel from my toes up to the orb in my hands. I knew perfectly well what I was holding, the real question is how to answer her, if at all. "I... I tripped on this," I murmured while dancing around the question. I'd rather not start lying so early in the conversation, so vague answers is what it's going to have to be. While sneaking a look up at her to see if the teen was satisfied with my reply my stomach let itself been known once again with a loud growl. I jerked my head back down to hide the blood rushing to my cheeks.

"Sounds like you're hungry," I heard her giggle. The teen laughing at me didn't exactly help with my embarrassment, though to hear laughter after so much crying and self-pity was pleasant. "I got an idea, why don't you come back home with me and we can get you fed and washed up before we get you back to your family?"

My brows furrowed at her proposition, while the offer of food and a shower was very tempting, there was no feasible way for her to find my family. I shook my head and said with a hiccup, "Y-you won't be able to find them." Shocked, she asked why that was and irritatingly I could only respond with tears for the first few minutes. "I don't know why, or how," I babbled after regaining the ability to string together word, "But I woke up in this cave and I know there's no way back to my family."

I undoubtedly looked like an absolute mess, I was exhausted physically, mentally and emotionally. It irritated me that I was like this in front of someone I had just met, but I couldn't stop my crying. It seemed like every little thing touched some nerve and sent me deeper into despair. I knew today was going to be bad, but I didn't know it would be this miserable.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and quickly look up through teary eyes to see who had placed it there. The blue haired teen had crouched down to be eye level with me and offered a warm sympathetic smile. I choked back sobs as best I could to allow her to to speak. Her tone was kind, motherly even, "Hey, it's okay. At least you're safe." I nodded slowly in response. My stomach grumbled again, and in doing so caused my face to be painted red. A smile graced the teen's face and giggled, "Now how's about we get back to the city and get us something to eat?"

"You'd really do all this for me?" I murmur rubbing some of the pooled tears from my vision, "We-we just met, you don't even know my name."

"Well, my name's Bulma. And yeah I'd do this for you, you're a staving little kid that needs my help. Getting you washed up and something to eat isn't a problem," The teen chirped taking her hand off my shoulder.

"I'm Catherine, Catherine Jane Steele," I hiccup with a small smile tugging at my lips, "Most... Most people just call me CJ, though."

"Catherine, huh?" she parroted my name in a quizzical tone, "That's an interesting name, I don't think I've ever hear of it before."

Let me get this straight, the girl named after underwear thinks my name is odd? I guess when literally everyone and their mother has some kind of pun or theme to their name, a completely mundane and unpunny one really is the odd one out. I kicked at the pebbles on the cave and mumble, "It was my grandmother's name, and I really do prefer to be called CJ."

"Alrighty, CJ it is then. Now how's about we go grab some lunch before we go back home and get you washed up?" Bulma suggested while standing back up. I looked up with a smile and nodded. "West City is just south of here, it's about a twenty minute drive."

She gestured for me to follow her and I did just that, sticking close to her as we walked towards a little car at the foot of the narrow path that connected the high up cave to the forest floor. The four wheeled car had the word "turbo" printed on it, wait that car had be some ways off, how the heck am I able to read that? Did someone swap my eyes with an eagle's?

I wasn't able to ponder that for long as an itch began to bug the hell out of me. What's worse is I couldn't figure out where it was. It felt like it was along my spine but... oh crap. I forgot about the tail. Not exactly used to having a tail let alone trying to control it like I would my arms and legs, I use my free hand to wrap the thing around my waste to make for a furry belt.

Bulma seems so young, and if she's out looking for dragonballs by herself, that means she hasn't met Goku yet. And that means, I should keep mine hidden as best as I can. I still don't know what the heck is going on or how I got here, but I don't want to be held accountable for royally screwing up a history that I'm not even supposed to be a part of. History... No, at this point all the events I know about are in the future. But Dragonball Z and all that is fiction, not real, and it defiantly isn't supposed to have me in it.

Maybe, through some bizarre act of God, I was sent to a different universe where all of Dragonball is a reality? I am no scientist by any stretch of the imagination, but some theories have always intrigued me, particularly ones on multiverse and alternate time-lines. Extremely confusing more often than not, but none the less interesting. And to be completely honest, I have wished for something like this many times before; to go to some other universe were what I know to be fiction is reality.

Ever since I was a child, I've wished on coins into fountains, the first star in the night sky, birthday cakes, you name it, and more often than not the wishes where the same at there core. I want to go on an adventure through whatever series I was hooked on at the time. Now it seems that all those stocked up wishes finally got came true and landed me in Dragonball. But rather than just displacing me, I'm a kid again. I woke up in a saiyan ship, in saiyan armor, as a saiyan. Planet Vegeta should have been destroyed shortly after Goku was sent to earth, so how the heck do I fit into this?

"Hey, Earth to CJ," the voice of Bulma derailed my thoughts. I quickly look around for the teen with curious eyes, what did I miss? "Sheesh, you didn't even realize you walked straight pass the car."

I turned around and spotted Bulma standing next to the driver's seat door of the car, which was about ten feet away. I let out a nervous laugh and quickly walked back to it while holding the dragonball in both hands to secure it. "Sorry, got lost in thought." When I got to the car I climbed into the passenger's side and put on the seat belt. In addition to it saving me in the event of a crash, the belt also hid the tail around my waist rather well, so that's a plus.

The drive out of the forest was bumpy. I didn't speak while Bulma concentrated on navigating through the trees, all I could do was try to keep the orange orb from flying out of my hands. About a second after getting onto some dirt road the drive smoothed out considerably. I loosened my grip on the orb and saw Bulma glance down at it in my peripheral. Bulma was the first of us to speak, "Hey CJ, that orb in your lap, does it have red stars in it?"

I nod, "Five."

"Ooh! This is great," she beamed, "School isn't even out yet and I already have two dragonballs!"

I mumble to myself uncertain if the teenaged driver can even understand me "So this is, a _real_ dragonball... It's so pretty." I'm still coming to terms with all this, the orb in my lap, an actual wish granting dragonball. I had an acrylic six star ball back home, but the orb in my lap, it was an true blue, well orange really, dragonball. No seems, no scratches, it was flawless.

"You know what the dragonballs are?" rang the curious voice of Bulma. I hum in affirmation and mention that my older brother told me about them.

And it was true, back when I was a little kid my brother and a bunch of my cousins in Missouri were really into Dragonball Z, so when ever he visited and insist on watching it my little sister and I ended up bugging them with questions about the show. Actually back when I was in fourth grade I threw a fit because my brother pointed out I had quoted something Vegeta said in the episode we watched earlier. In my mind I was quoting my teacher, a woman that I greatly admired, and to be associated in any way with the evil villain Vegeta upset me. Needless to say, I am not going to be telling anyone here about that event ever.

For the rest of the drive into the city Bulma asked me questions about myself and I asked her the same questions despite already knowing most of the answers. She talked about her older sister and parents, and I told her some stuff about my family. It hurt a bit to talk about them, but Bulma kept reassuring me and gave some comfort. The conversation eventually lead to school, which I tried to keep the questions off of me as much as possible. I'm essentially a twelve year old with the education level of a college freshman, I really didn't want any unwanted attention.

"So yeah, High School's been okay so far," Bulma answered with a shrug, "After my last final on Thursday I was going to ditch and take an early vacation so I can hunt for the rest of the dragonballs. There's no way I'm waiting around till next Wednesday for school to officially get out." I hummed an acknowledgment to the teen and look out the window. We had gotten onto the main road a few minutes ago and the signs stated that West City was two miles away. I heard Bulma's fingers rhythmically tapping on the steering wheel as she seemed to hum in thought. "You know, looking for the dragonballs by myself could get pretty lonely... why don't you come with me?"

I turned my head and blinked at her a few times in disbelief of what I heard, "W-what?"

"Yeah, go on an adventure, explore the world, and who knows maybe we can find some sign of your family." Bulma said with a smile, "It will be great!"

"An... adventure?" I repeated, mulling over the word and its meaning. My life had been mundane and average, and I was content with that. Now I'm being offered to explore and see a world so different to what I know. The thought of it was quite intimidating, yet at the same time the idea of it, an adventure, it was thrilling. The word lit an ember in me, a desire to go and explore. I didn't want to mess up any of the upcoming events, but the thought of traveling with Bulma and eventually Goku and knowing what all takes place, it was even more thrilling. In that moment I didn't care about the potential consequences of tagging along I just wanted to go. A large grin spread across my face, "I'd love to go!"

The blue haired driver laughed at my sudden pep as she drove into the city limits. "Awesome," she chuckled, "then it's settled, we can head out on the 27th, right after everyone else is in school. Traffic shouldn't be so bad then. Anyway, now that we're in the city, where do you want to get lunch?"

"I don't really care as long as its fast and preferably has chicken strips, shrimp baskets, or hamburgers... or all of them, I'm really hungry. Actually an all-you-can-eat buffet, that would probably be the best." I answer while wiping some of the drool off my lips.

"Okay, buffet it is. I heard that a really good one opened up last week." The girl genius said turning down a new road, most likely one that would lead to this new buffet she spoke of. I just hope I can curb my appetite without making the place go bankrupted.

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 **A/N: Finally got this chapter done, ended up a bit shorter when it get typed. Also ended it differently than I originally planed, oh well. I also got the dragonball volumes 1-9 and all 5 seasons of the anime, so I can stick relatively close to cannon. Oh! One thing I forgot to mention, CJ is acting as an Author Surrogate, practically every event in her past she has/will talk about is taken from my personal life experiences just with name changes, even that thing that happened in the fourth grade. I seriously did not like Vegeta at the time, he was a bad guy and his partner Nappa had blown up a whole city!**

 **Dragonball © Akira Toriyama**


	3. Chapter Two

Come With Me Now – A Dragonball Fanfic

Chapter Two

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Fifteen, that's how many plates I licked cleaned before I ended up losing count. I wasn't sure if it was due to my appetite or attire, but I had managed to catch the attention of practically all the other buffet patrons. All the stares and odd glances I got where not comforting in the least, and ultimately got me to stop going up for more food despite my lingering hunger. Bulma had also been fixated on watching me devour all food set in front of me, forgetting about the plate of now cooling food in front of herself. It wasn't until I had stopped getting up that Bulma asked with a nervous laugh if I was full. Truth be told I wasn't, though I lied saying I was, I had at least eaten enough food to get my stomach to shut up.

Bulma's somewhat nervous laugh turned to a genuine chuckle as she started to eat the food on her plate. "You got quiet some appetite," the teen stated between bites, "Have you ever even eaten before?"

"Yes!" I defensively reply, "a-although, I don't exactly remember when the last time I ate was."

My memory probably isn't the most reliable thing at the moment, at least not for my day-to-day life and events prior to waking up this morning. My spring semester classes were ending, I was about to take my finals for them. That was in late April, and according to Bulma it's late August. Not to mention I have absolutely no idea how the years from my world line up here.

The teen's features grew somber looking as she asked, "What _is_ the last thing you remember, CJ?"

The question caught me off guard, but none the less I think back to my life when everything was normal, when my reality was stable and everything made sense. My memory had always been pretty spotty when it came to recalling the events of the previous week, but while trying to recall what I perceive to be yesterday there was next to nothing. I got to campus, that's the last thing I could find in my memories before this morning. I couldn't answer with that either, I have already gotten enough attention for today. I don't need to say I'm some genius child with the intellect of the average college student and give people another reason to gawk. I have to go with something else, some other thing that happened before waking up today. An slightly earlier memory came to my mind, and it was a memory I could admit to.

"I went to a carnival. One my school was holding," I finally answered.

"What's the name of your school?" The teen countered, honestly Bulma was just trying to do the right thing and get as much information as possible, but to me this was a delicate game of checkers. Yes checker, I never learned or cared to learn how to play chess.

"S-South Haines," I answer intentionally leaving off: university.

"Is that anywhere near South City?" Bulma asked before polishing off her soft drink. I shrug, saying I have no clue where it is in relation to any of the cities. Bulma heaved a heavy sigh due to the vagueness of my answer, which made guilt take hold of me. I hated that I could give her nothing but half answers and misdirections, but I knew she wouldn't be able to find my family. Somehow or another, I got separated not only from my family, but my world. It wasn't in her power to get me back home.

But maybe, it's within Shenron's power to do so. A glimmer of hope came to me as I realize the dragonballs could send me back home. If I can interrupt Emperor Pilaf before Oolong does, than I can wish to go back home, and everything here will be fine and on track with only a few minor things different. I can fix this, I just have to bide my time and not mess anything up until then.

Bulma gave up trying to figure out where I'm from for the moment and finished her meal. She only filled one plate while we dined at the buffet and when she finished we got up to leave, though not before paying of course. I hoped my ravenous hunger didn't kill her own appetite, otherwise I'm going to start eating in private.

During the drive this time around we didn't speak much, the teenager behind the wheel instead had the radio up. The station it was tuned to, heck if I remember the name of it, a station that played a bunch of different rock and pop songs, none of which I recognized. It seemed highly doubtful that I'd hear any of my favorite songs while here. The thought of it made me frown a bit, not even half a day has gone by and I'm all ready missing my ipod. I felt selfish for missing my ipod almost as equally as my family, a feeling I hated. At the very least though my old-as-dirt-and-beaten-to-hell-and-back ipod nano had songs on it to help lift my mood a bit, songs I recognize and could easily sing along to.

Ultimately, I ended up tuning out the radio for the remainder of the trip, instead mentally going through what I could of the lyrics to my favorite songs. I must have been pretty focused on my songs, because I didn't even notice the car had stopped until Bulma unbuckled her seat belt and gathered up everything before exiting the vehicle. I quickly followed suit, stepping out of the small car and onto the sidewalk Bulma parked by.

With a click and an explosion the blue "Turbo" automobile vanished before my eyes. I tried not to seem so awestruck as the teen caught the tiny capsule to put in her pocket, and I had relative success in masking the emotion at least until I turned around to follow Bulma up the large walkway.

"Holy crap!" I exclaim upon laying eyes on the building we were walking towards. In front of us sat a colossal yellow dome with a sign saying; Capsule Corp., on it. The closest thing I could try and compare the yellow dome to would maybe be one of the casino hotels in Vegas. Those are the only things I've ever actually seen for myself that could rival the height of the dome structure a head of me. "This place is huge!"

Bulma glanced back at me while still heading towards the double doors, hints of confusion on her features, "Did you not notice us drive up here? You could see from like a hundred blocks away."

"I spaced out during the drive," I mutter while catching up to her at the door.

She shook her head with a smile, "That, and I did kinda forget to mention my dad is the head of the Capsule Corporation." My reply to that, if it even could be called that, was some odd sound with shock being the only emotion heard in the noise. I was well aware that Bulma was rich. The thing is however, I'm middle class, well _was_ middle class, I suppose I'm technically homeless at the moment. Anyway, the nicest places I've ever been in were hotels on the Vegas Strip or some virtual mansion or castle in some video game.

Bulma pushed open one of the doors and stepped in, she even held the door open for me. Thanking her, I crossed the threshold and entered the building. My eyes darted the around the room examining all the little details of the room, the shiny tiled floors that seemed to have been recently cleaned, the somewhat plain white walls with a variety of posters adorning them, the large immaculate counter to the right with two robots in aprons running it.

The teen heiress asked the bots where her parents were. The closer of the two robots was the one to respond, saying that Dr. Briefs is in his lab, while Mrs. Briefs is in the garden. Bulma made a brief hum in thought before continuing her conversation with the mechanical maid, "Well, tell mom and dad I'm home, and that I brought a friend with me. We'll be in my room if you need anything"

The robots acknowledged Bulma's request and resumed whatever it was they were doing before wer got here. After giving a small sigh and mutter pertaining to her parents, Bulma guided me through her home. She pointed out all the family rooms, studies, and guest rooms, among other things along our trek through the labyrinth she calls home. I'm willing to wager I'm going to get extremely lost in this place, and the only thing that will keep me from being stranded for days in some forgotten wing of Capsule Corp. would be the little bots patrolling the halls.

The tour wasn't too long, but that didn't stop relief coming to me when Bulma stopped in front of a door. "And this-" the blue headed girl said just before opening the door, "Is my room."

"Whoa," That was all I could think to say upon entering the room. If I hadn't known this was Bulma's bedroom before hand I most likely would have confused it with a very spacious and well keep workshop. There were tables here and there with various papers or electronics on them, a desk against one of the walls, even a few small vehicles in this large room. The first thing I go to look at is the papers and gadget on the closest table. The papers were riddled with a few short sentences and lots of numbers and equations that made no sense to me whatsoever, hell even the words made little sense to me, at least those I could kind of comprehend. I didn't get to look over at the physical electronics or mechanical parts, Bulma caught my attention before I had the chance.

"Okay kiddo," Bulma stated to get me to look over at her. She held two purple towels while standing in front of a second door in the room. "Bathroom's right here, go get washed up and I'll look for something you can change into."

I nod and go to take the fluffy towels from her, thanking her while doing so. She smiled saying not to sweat it and I smiled back before heading in to the bathroom. The bathroom could easily be described in one word, pink. The bathroom is pink, and not just one solid hue of pink either. From pastel to ruby, if it was pink it was in this room. Luckily a majority of the room was on the lighter end of the pink spectrum leaving the room feeling bright.

Shrugging off the color choice, I set the towels on the vanity. Unable to simply kick off the stupid boots, I sit down on the side of the tub and yank the things off my feet. The leotard wouldn't come off as easily though, I had to practically tearing the thing to shreds to get myself free of it. I tossed the shredded leotard into the waste basket by the toilet and ended up keeping the boots, at least for now.

A hot shower is just what I needed, getting clean almost always helps me feel better. It was a bit difficult to keep my thoughts from wandering to negative things while I showered. That is, until I started to distract myself by singing. Now, I couldn't remember a whole song's lyrics unless I studied them, something I haven't done since middle school, so I "singing" might not have exactly been the best word for it.

I hummed and sang what I could of a large variety of songs, making it a performance the weirdest medley. Alternative, rock, pop, j-pop, songs from my favorite shows, games, and movies, lots of difference kinds of songs ended up in the medley. I won't lie and say I was some fantastic singer, I wasn't horrible either but I none the less I was self-conscious about my singing, so I sang as quiet as I could. However by the time I rinsed out the strawberry-scented conditioner I had forgotten I wasn't in my own bathroom, and the volume of my voice went up.

"Afraid to lose control," I sang as I rinsed off the last of the soap and conditioner, "caught up in this world. I've wasted time, I've wasted breath, I think I've thought myself to death." Turning off the water I try to recall the next lyrics, and remember whilst ringing out the water from my hair, "I was born without this fear," I grin in between the lyrics, "now only this seems clear," Stepping out to grab on of the towels I finish the verse, "I need to move, I need to fight, I need to lose myself tonight."

Once I grabbed one of the towel from the counter, I notice an article of folded clothing by the towels. Heat rushed to my face as I realized that Bulma must have slipped in and left that for me without my noticing. I got so caught up in singing I didn't even hear the door open. Great. I hope she doesn't ask me about what I was singing, I don't know how to explain it without lying. At least I was hidden behind a curtain at the time.

Embarrassment fully killing my mood to sing, I was forced to dry off in silence. I grab the garment left by the teen once dry and examine it. It was a gray long sleeved shirt that went to my knees. Once I had it on I see that the sleeves went well past my hands and I'd have the roll up the sleeves if I wanted free range of my hands, so I kept the sleeves just as they were.

I try to get my tail to wrap around my waist with thought alone. I took a few attempts but I did eventually get some control over the new monkey tail. With the shirt being baggy on me and not made of a light fabric I can keep my tail hidden and no one will be the wiser. I hope.

Grabbing the other towel off the vanity I ruffle my hair and get the excess water off. Once satisfied, I put both the towels in the bathroom hamper and step out of the humid room with my boots. Scanning the bedroom, one that I have yet to see a bed in, I spot Bulma sitting at her desk tinkering with the radar. She glanced over to me and gave a tired smile, one that didn't last long.

She heaved an annoyed sigh and I meekly ask what was wrong, worried that I might have somehow done something wrong. "There's a slight change in plans, we won't be able to go searching for the dragonballs as early as I had hoped.," the blue haired brainiac answered. Relieved that she wasn't upset with me for some unknown reason, I asked her why that was to which she replied, "The radar I've been developing to track them down still isn't completely accurate on the medium or short ranges. I just ordered a special software and part for it, but the shop won't get them in until next Monday."

"Oh, well that suc-" I stopped and replaced the word, "that stinks."

Bulma didn't seem bothered by my little slip in word choice, she carried on the conversation paying it no mind, "Yeah, I don't think we'll be able to head out until the first of September at this rate, when school is out for every one."

"What's the date again?" I inquire tilting my head some.

Bulma's response was a tad blunt, "Sunday, the twenty-second."

"And there's 31 days in August so, 23, 24," I murmur counting the remaining days on one of my hands, "That's just 9 days not counting today. It's a little bit over a week, that's not too bad."

She grumbled something about a boyfriend and I try not to chuckle while setting my boots down by the bathroom door. With nothing to really do, I go back to the table littered with paper and electronics, now also having the two dragonballs on it. Rolling the five-star ball on the table top I ask Bulma how long she'll be at school for tomorrow.

Eight am to three pm, that's how long her school is in session for. Leaving me here for seven whole hours pretty much by myself in a giant maze of a building. It was far from desirable, however I had no real say in the matter. Asking Bulma to jeopardize her grades just so I'm somewhat comfortable here would be extremely selfish and inconsiderate of me, especially after all she's done for me all ready.

The soft screech of an opening door rang in my ear, jarring me from my line of thought. Before I could turn around to see who had opened the door a feminine voice called out to the teenager in the room, "Bulma dear, I brought some lemonade for you and your friend." I could tell in an instant who it was, and when I finally get all the way turned around in my chair lo and behold Mrs. Briefs entered the room carrying a tray with glasses on it. Bulma swiveled around in her chair and thanked her mother as Mrs. Briefs set the tray down on a clean part of the table I sat at. She smiled to me and I shyly return one. "Hello sweetie," she kindly greeted, "I'm Bulma's mother, Mrs. Briefs"

I introduced myself as well, "Nice to meet you ma'am, I'm CJ."

"Hey mom?" Bulma called out to get her mother's attention. When she had it the teen continued, "CJ is going to come with me to look for the dragonballs. I also told her that she could stay here until then since she's got no other place to go."

Mrs. Briefs quickly turned back to me after hearing that, her brows knitted in worry. She asked what happened to me and I tried to muster up enough of my voice to answer. "I..." came my cracking voice after a few moments, I fought to keep my pain out of my voice as best I could. I take a deep breath and tell Mrs. Briefs what I could, "I don't really know what did happen, just that I got separated from my family and wound up in a cave. Last thing I remember is going to a carnival my school was having, but that was in late April."

"April!? Oh my goodness!" That's all I heard before being pulled into a hug by the worried blonde. It was an action I didn't expect. "Don't worry sweetie, you're welcome to stay here as long as you like."

"T-thank you ma'am, that's very generous of you," I said with red dusting my cheeks. I tried my hardest to resist squirming out of the hug, while I appreciated the gesture I don't feel comfortable having people I just met in my personal space let alone giving me physical contact.

"It's no trouble at all dear." Mrs. Briefs beamed as she released me from the hug, "Now is there anything you need while you're here?"

"Not really, just some clothes," I answer with a small mumble.

"Perfect, I was going to go shopping tomorrow anyway. We can get you a whole new wardrobe while Bulma's at school." The mother cheered. Bulma groaned in irritation, most likely wanting to go shopping too or at least not have to go to school.

"You don't have to do that, I'm fine with secondhand clothes." my plea went ignored. Mrs. Briefs insisted that she take me shopping tomorrow. She's extremely kind for doing so, but it seems like it will be like shopping with my grandma. Her buying everything I show the slightest interest in and unintentionally making me feel guilty that I can't or didn't pay for it myself. At least now I have something to do tomorrow.

* * *

 **A/N: So It seems that I keep posting a chapter a month... I'm sorry. I write when I feel compelled to and try to get a few paragraphs written for the rough drafts while on my lunch brakes, but I've been playing a lot of games recently, mostly New Vegas and the old Spyro trilogy... But hey! At least 2,700 average words per chapter is a good thing right? ...I'll try to post a bit faster.**

 **Dragonball © Akira Toriyama**


	4. Chapter Three

Come With Me Now – A Dragonball Fanfic  
Chapter Three

* * *

Shortly after scheduling the shopping trip for the next day, Mrs. Briefs left our company to do... something. I didn't catch what it was she was heading to go do. Either way she left Bulma and myself to our own devises. Bulma showed me up to the loft where her bed, wardrobe, TV, and the like were. We wound up watching TV for quiet some time. The teen had it tuned to some network airing romantic drama movies and daytime soap operas.

I must admit that I'm not the biggest fan of these genres, I'd much rather watch a comedy. However I kept my complaints to myself seeing how enthralled Bulma was while watching. As time passed, I found it increasingly difficult to keep my smart-ass remarks unvoiced. I have watched too many "reviews" of movies to refrain myself from mentally pointing out every single stupid thing that happened on screen. By some miracle, I held my tongue until dinner was ready.

Dinner with the Briefs was awkward, especially at first. I got to finally meet Dr. Briefs and while we dined he and his wife asked me lots of questions about myself. I answered as best as I could, most of them being simple questions that Bulma had already asked me earlier that day. So it was just a matter of answering them without letting my emotions charge up and get the better of me.

Bulma eventually started to answer the questions for me, as well as shift the conversation topic to her father's work. I mumbled a thank you to her and she smiled back. The Briefs were nice people, I'm extremely grateful that they took me in. But all those questions, I already hate being the focus of attention, couple that with a bunch of inquiries about my life and that happened and I'm surprised I didn't burst into tears right then and there.

Once dinner was over, this time managing to fill my stomach without anyone noticing how much I ate, Bulma escorted me back to her room. She watched more cheesy soap operas and this time I asked to look through her book collection. She shot me a questioning look and I claimed to be mostly interested in the covers and pictures in the case of a textbook. She waved me off saying it was okay before going back to the TV.

Of all the various titles and authors of the novels, and few textbooks, a couple stood out to me. The author of some of the novels on Bulma's shelf was a Miss Tights Briefs, her older sister. Bulma even had _Chako the Space Policeman_ the novel based on Jaco. I never read much on Tights or Jaco back when information on them could be found on a wiki page. Maybe I should ask to borrow this to read over the next few days, Lord knows I got time to kill before we can head out to hunt dragonballs.

"Hey Bulma?" I say grabbing the book off the shelf, "Can I borrow this?"

She turned from the television to look at me and I showed her the book in question. "Huh? Oh hey, that's one of the books my sister wrote," Bulma casually stated, "Sure, you can borrow it. Weird that you picked that one though."

"Why's that?" I ask examining the book's cover. It had a little alien-android looking thing on the cover. A sleek look, large solid colored eyes, a weird symbol on his chest plate, yep that seemed to match what I can recall of Jaco, or in this case Chako.

"It's the first novel my sister got published. It also didn't do too well, most people don't like it," Bulma stated turning back to the TV. I let Bulma enjoy her shows at that point. To pass the time I shimmed through the books looking through them for pictures of diagrams to study and put them back neatly when done.

When it was finally time to go to sleep I retired to a guest bedroom a few doors down from Bulma. I was giving the choice to stay in Bulma's room for the night, but I didn't want to be a bother to her. Almost the instant I was left alone in the guest bedroom I regretted my decision. I stayed there though. I stayed in that bed by myself for hours trying to fall asleep.

Sleep wasn't easily obtained, unfortunately. My mind was plagued by negative thoughts. My family is gone, or rather I'm the one that's gone, and I don't know my way around this house let alone this other earth. I quietly wept, balled under the sheets. In the silence of night, after my tears ran out my paranoia set in. I heard creaks and rustles both outside and inside my room.

I tried my damnedest to convince myself that it was just a harmless robot or Bulma getting up to get something. Then I remembered that monsters are real here, Baba's fighters, a vampire, a mummy, and invisible man. I was shaking like a leaf under the covers praying for the relief of sleep to come.

I have no clue around what time I finally fell asleep, but I woke up the next morning to nails lightly combing through the hair clinging to my head. Rubbing away the sleep from my eyes, I note the tears hanging onto my lashes. I must have had a bad dream, but I don't recall anything about it. My eyes flutter open and a I see a worried smile gracing Mrs. Briefs' face. She sat on the edge of the bed combing through my hair. When she spoke her tone was kind and comforting, "You alright, sweetie? It seemed like you were having a nightmare."

"I'm fine," I groggily mutter whipping away the last of my tears, "I just had a hard time trying to sleep last night."

She gave me a sympathetic nod and smile. She also suggested that I get washed up and dressed, saying that she'll make me a big breakfast for when I come down. Saiyan or Human, food has always been a great motivator for me. I agree and before Mrs. Briefs left she pointed out the outfit she left for me to change into.

After a quick shower, I dressed in the clothes laid out for me. I was give a sundress, a cute one too. The skirt was tiered and fell an inch short of my knees. It was mostly a light yellow with pink butterflies on the waist and skirt and pink polka dot ribbon shoulder straps tied into bows at the end. The dress was defiantly girly, it even had light green legging to wear with it. As long as it allowed my to hide my tail, I'm fine with it.

None the less I grab my boots out of Bulma's room, before getting one of the bots to escort me down to the kitchen. Once I got to the same floor as the kitchen I let my nose lead the way. It was like a mini buffet in the kitchen, and Mrs. Briefs apologized for going a bit overboard with the food. "I used to cook like this all the time for Tights and Bulma when they were just little girls," the mother confessed.

I said it wasn't a problem in the slightest as well as thanked her for making this meal. She smiled and handed me an empty plate which I promptly piled food onto. I sat at the little table in the kitchen, complimenting the food as I scarfed it down. While putting the cook wear into the dishwasher she giggled, "Thank you, dear. You excited to go traveling with Bulma once she's out of school?"

I nod, managing to voice, "Uh-huh."

"Do you know any of the stories about the dragonballs?" She asked. I repeat my last response, slower this time, curious as to where she was going with this. "Bulma always loved to hear those stories before bed. You can imagine her surprise when she found the one I had down in the basement."

I nearly choked on my food. After a small ordeal to get my breathing back on track, I wheeze out, " _You_ told Bulma about the dragonballs?" She hummed her yes as she closed the dishwasher door. I never thought much about how Bulma came to know so much about the dragonball. I guess I just assumed she did a bunch of research after finding the two-star ball in her basement.

A few minutes later I finished off the last of my breakfast. We were out the door ready to go shopping soon after. Now, I wish I could say that the excursion was a short and inexpensive one, but then I'd be a liar. Mrs. Brief had me try on so many different clothes in each store we went to, I'm almost certain that I tried on some of the same things at different locations. Thank goodness a chunk of the population here is anthropomorphic animals, because it allowed me to grab pants with tail holes when Mrs. Briefs wasn't looking. Any time she made me try on an outfit that showed my waist I passed off my tail as a fuzzy belt. We went from store to store, accumulating more clothes each time we left one. We also never had to carry any bags since Mrs. Briefs brought along a few storage capsules that all our purchases went into.

I couldn't begin to recall every article of clothing the woman got for me, but it was a heck of a lot and all different kinds of clothes too. Numerous sundresses, several rainbows worth of leggings and camisoles, jeans, shoes, bathing suits. Plural. More than one swimsuit! Who needs more than one swimsuit!? Not me, but Mrs. Briefs won't lesson. I really wish she would stop buying so much for me, I'm not going to need it. I plan on wishing myself home in less than a month.

After hours of clothes shopping with browsing designer purse stores and cook wear shops sprinkled in between, we take a break for lunch at one of the restaurants at the outdoor mall. I was ecstatic that we got to sit down, not to mention eat. I ordered some platter thing that was meant to be shared, but... I ate it all by myself. Mrs. Briefs didn't seem as surprised by my appetite as Bulma was the other day. She even joked saying that I was just filling up my hollow legs so I can grow up healthy. I tried not to cry when she said that, it was something my grandmother always said to me around dinner time.

When the plates where clean and the meals paid for Mrs. Briefs lead me back out into the bright sunlight. She pointed out a playground built in the center of the shopping area and suggested that I go play while she browsed a few more shops. Weighing my options I chose to dink around the playground, seeing that it was mostly empty save for two kids running around. Plus the swings were free.

I got myself situated on one of the swings and started to kick. As much as I hated heights, I loved swings and roller coasters. I guess it was more of just being afraid of falling than being up high. Moving fast through the air, no longer tied to the ground, I loved it. I'm actually jealous that a bunch of people here will eventually learn to fly, if not already doing so in Tien and Chiaotzu's case.

I kick my legs back when I felt something on my ankles. The next thing I knew I was face down in the plastic grass padding the playground. I heard cackling come from behind me as I push myself out of the artificial grass. Growling in irritation, I get to my feet and turn around, seeing two little devils laughing their asses off.

"What the heck was that for!?" I snapped. I was using every ounce of restraint I had to not punch their faces in. My nose hurt some and was beginning to run. Whipping it away with one of my fists I spot red smeared from my white knuckles to my wrist. Great, now I'm going to ruin this dress thanks to the bloody nose these to gave me.

The larger of the two bullies stepped closer, so to leer over me. His intimidation tactic wasn't going to work, I'm more pissed off than scared at the moment. "I own this playground, and I don't want your sissy girl cooties getting on everything," The larger brunette viciously stated with a smirk pulling on his lips.

I felt my eyelid twitch when he said that. My simmering irritation boiled to an anger, "So you knock me off the swing!? Boy, I've got half a mind to rat you out to-" The boys cut off my rant with another eruption of laughter. I demanded to know what the thought to be so hilarious, that they interrupted me.

"You only got half a brain," the rust haired lackey snorted out, "I bet that's why you don't wear shoes with laces!" The boy sported a shit-eating grin as his friend nearly doubled over from laughing. I no doubt looked like a fuming tomato to the hyenas, which I'm sure added to their fit of laughter. I ground my teeth, snarling at them. They were trying my already short patience, and if I don't get away soon I might just end up on a wanted poster. I didn't care if their kids and I'm mentally supposed to be an adult. All I see are two devil children in desperate need of an ass kicking.

With my last iota of composure I gave the monsters a warning, "Just leave me alone. I've got enough to deal with, without you two imbeciles harassing me."

"Awe, is the little baby going to cry?" the brunette mocked. I finally retaliated, I didn't punch him like I wanted to, but I did push the larger boy onto his ass reiterating to leave me alone. I didn't even turn around before I too was pushed down. I looked up, brows furrowed in anger only to see a fist come straight at me.

That scrawny little! I'm going to wring his neck for that cheap shot. I got back to my feet, dizzy and unable to see straight, but ready to fight. I pull back my fist, ready to beat the tar out of the brat that gave me a shiner, but something stopped me. I heard my name being cried and I look to see the panicked blonde woman shouting for me. I wish I didn't look her way, cause it allowed the other boy a chance to land a blow to my gut. "Don't think you can just walk away cause your mom's here!" the child, who I am now convened is a literal devil, screamed.

"That's it!" I snapped back. I was tired of being a punching bag. My shout seemed to catch the two off guard, and you can bet I exploited that. I landed one swift punch to the larger devil child's gut, knocking the wind out of him. The other scrawnier one got a kick to the dick, also paralyzing him for a moment. I took that time to run back to Mrs. Briefs. She scooped me up making sure I was alright.

I managed to see out of my right eye that Mrs. Briefs was examining the other. The left half of my face felt so swollen I didn't even want to try and open my left eye. I sniffle and whip my nose with my already bloodied hand. While I looked like crap on the outside, I felt even worse on the inside. How could I let myself resort to violence? I felt so ashamed, I should have been the bigger person and walked away. My anger had dissipated, and I started to shake from holding back sobs. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt them back," I hiccuped, "I just wanted them to leave me alone-"

Mrs. Briefs gently shushed me, "Don't worry, sweetheart. The only thing you've done is stand up for yourself." I tried to cut in again, which was unsuccessful, "But you, what? Fought back against to little boys that were willing to fight a little girl in front of her own mother? Sweetie, you've done nothing wrong in fighting back."

The boys in question where hauled over to us by a man in uniform. "Ma'am, I sincerely apologize for what these two little hooligans did to your daughter, if I could just get her side of the story for my report," the officer asked. I nodded and told them exactly what happened from leaving the restaurant to now. He nodded and started to drag the boys away, but I quickly asked if I was in any trouble before he got too far away. His answer was a simple, "No."

We headed back home after that. Though not before Mrs. Briefs stopped to buy me an ice cream in an attempt to cheer me up. And I gotta admit, the ice cream did help a bit. Once we got back I ended up taking a nap on one of the couches with ice over my eye. I didn't even see Dr. Briefs or Bulma until dinner, and boy were they surprised. Black eye, spots of blood on my dress, I most certainly looked like I had been in a fight.

At first my shame of what happened prevented me from responding much to anything. Still ashamed that I resorted to violence and that I got a black eye. But how Mrs. Briefs retold it to her husband and daughter, saying how brave I was for standing up to the little monsters, and even when I got hurt how I didn't cry. It made me feel a bit proud. My black eye was no longer a humiliating bruise on my face, but a battle scar for standing up for myself. That felt... right.

After dinner, things played out almost exactly the same as the previous night. I watched TV with Bulma, as best I could anyway. This time she let me pick what we watched. I tuned it to the first cartoon I saw. The show, as far as I can tell, was about some owl that went on all kinds of adventures with it's friends, and on each mini adventure one of the friends went bat-shit crazy and screwed something up that they all had to fix. I stopped paying attention to it two episodes in and just talked with Bulma.

When it finally was time to go to bed, I retired to back to the guest room down the hall. I changed back to the gray shirt, keeping the green leggings on, and climb under the covers. I am positive I didn't make the bed earlier, I guess one of the maid bot things here made the bed after I left. Shrugging it off I turn my back to the end table lamp I left on, hoping that the dull light would ease my worries. And you know what, it did. I fell asleep much more peacefully, though I still had my anticipation of the following days keep me awake longer than I liked.

* * *

 **A/N: Holy crap! I this is a record right here! Another chapter in just a week? This is unheard of. Any way... this chapter... particularly the scene with the bullies, I wrote three different drafts of how it played out. The first two where more manipulative which, I didn't like too much. I still don't know about this one, as I started to debate if I should even keep it in there. Tell me your thoughts on it, I really like hearing what you guys have to say. It brightens up my day when I can read a review.**

 **Dragonball © Akira Toriyama**


	5. Chapter Four

Come With Me Now - A Dragonball Fanfic

Chapter Four

* * *

My stomach tied itself in knots as I waited in the passenger seat of the light blue compact car. Today was the first day of Bulma's break from school, as well as the day an adventure is to begin. The past week here had been considerably much more peaceful when compared to the first two days. I stayed close to Mrs. Briefs while Bulma attended school, which entailed a lot of time spent in the massive garden on the first floor of the building. And over the last weekend before Bulma's vacation, she and I got everything packed and accounted for, save for the radar.

Said teen entered the car to sit in the drivers seat. The engine roared to life and I couldn't keep myself from smiling. We waved more goodbyes to Bulma's parents, and they wished us a safe journey. Unfortunately, that wish wouldn't be coming true. Heck, if memory serves, Bulma should be swept up by a pterodactyl, or something of the like, this late afternoon. For whatever reason though, I wasn't scared. In fact, I felt excited more than anything else. Probably because of who we should be meeting later today.

As Bulma fought morning traffic to get out of the city, I bounced in my seat due to my glee and anxiousness, causing the contents of bookbag at my feet to rattle inside. I've gotten such lowsy sleep the past week for multiple reasons, and the only reason I'm super alert and bouncy this early in the morning is the same reason I was alert and bouncy throughout all of last night. I probably got two hours of actual sleep sprinkled in over the several hours I laid in bed. It was barely pass seven in the morning, and even now my eyelids started to feel heavy from my crappy sleep schedule. I would no doubt crash and burn tonight if not during our road trip.

I look over to my reflection in the side view mirror, and a bouncy preteen smiled back. The swelling in my left eye had gone down quiet a bit over the week, now only a light blue and yellowish bruise surrounded it. As for the dark rings under my eyes, they only darkened over the past week. Even as a human I've had bags under my eyes since I was a kid. I asked my mom about it, and she said that it wasn't just from poor sleep but also my Native American heritage. I'm not sure if that's really true, seeing as I'm like, only one sixty-fourth Cherokee, and stayed up into the wee hours of the morning staring at my GBA playing pokemon since third grade.

"So navigator, where are we heading?" Bulma asked once we cleared the city limits. Grabbing the radar from the compartment between the front seats, I switch it to long range. An immense ways away to the east there where four dots forming a trapezoid and one off in the sowthwest somewhere, it didn't even show up on the radar. I show the radar to Bulma so she can pick which one to start with. "How's about we start with that one furthest east, and work our way back west?"

"That sounds great," I nod and a huge relief washed over me. For a while I was worried about us picking to go after a different dragonball than the four-star ball and throwing everything off. But the way Bulma phrased that, so that we'll start looking in the far east and heading west, that has to be right. I mean, the story Dragonball is based off of is called _Journey to the West_. Kinda embarrassing I didn't completely realize until now that this is why Bulma met Goku first, Goku is the furthest out east. I feel dumb now.

I look back at the radar and notice something. The dot closest to true east was extremely far off. As in roughly fifty grid marks away, give or take, and Bulma said at long range each one was fifty miles. I pulled out a notebook I was given and jot down the numbers, since I work much better visually. It came to twenty-five hundred miles, we could average a hundred an hour and still not be there till tomorrow!

The car slowed to a stop and I look up. Bulma reading the evident confusion on my face, answered my unspoken question, "We had to get out of the city before we could switch over to the plane. Then we'll get there in no time." So much for a long car ride, but at least we'll get there a heck of a lot sooner.

Within a few minute of pulling over, we were in the plane and ready for take off. Normally, planes don't scare me. I've flown quiet a few times and it was one of the only two ways to leave the town I lived in, the other being ferries. But I gotta say, being in this helicopter-plane hybrid with a sixteen year old pilot, not super reassuring. Then again, I could just be freaking out a lot more because I got a front row seat to what's ahead of us instead of an aisle seat.

I clutch my backpack to my chest as the plane begins to move. I triple check my belt and when the plane starts to get off the ground I keep my eyes tight, focusing on popping my ears. Only when Bulma finally spoke again I dared to open my eyes. She laughed, "Never been in a plane before?"

"I have," I answer. My throat felt dry and I kept my gaze either on Bulma or the planes interior, hoping that the nausea from motion sickness wouldn't kick in for a while. "But not private ones... I'm also scared of heights."

"It'll be okay," The teen smiled, "I'm a master at practically every kind of vehicle out there."

I give her a small nod and loosen my grip on the backpack I hugged. "Planes don't normally scare me, unless there's some pretty bad turbulence," I murmur, "It's more of high up ledges I'm scared of." Bulma reassured me that we'll be perfectly fine, and after a few minute I started to relax. It was then that I asked around what time should we be there. Her ETA was a little after noon, giving us about four or five hours of flying. Too bad I didn't have my ipod or any games, the only thing I had to pass the time was a notebook and pencils.

Flipping pass the first few pages of the notebook littered with doodles and scribbled words, I open to a crisp new page, contemplating what to draw. Sketching in swirls and random lines at first to get some motivation flowing, the scratches of graphite on the paper turn into stylized symbols. First a crescent moon, than a sun, followed by rain drops, fire, a leaf, rocks or a cloud I'm not sure, a wind vortex or lightning bolt thing, a skull, and a heart, and random shape in between. I lost focus of my surroundings after that and just drew what came to mind.

"Are those two fighting?" inquired the pilot to my left. I snapped up to look at her before looking at what she referred too. On a new page I had absentmindedly doodled a chibi Goku and Vegeta in a beam struggle. My blood chilled to ice upon realizing what I sketched into the notebook. My only solace was that I was working from memory and added the bare minimum of details to them, due to my laziness. Their hair wasn't even shaded in, so the color wouldn't be instantly assumed to be black.

Calming myself down and making a mental note to burn this page later, I reply with a shrug. I go to a new page to bury that picture and try to not have my brain go to autopilot as I draw. Bulma completed my drawings causing me to blush and give her a meek thank you. It really bugged me when people watch me draw, so this embarrassment mixing with the aftermath of a mini panic attack did not help the growing nausea in my stomach. In fact, I had to stop drawing for a while or else I'd be loosing my breakfast in the next thirty minutes or so.

I sit back in my chair and close my eyes that have grown extremely heavy. Part of me wanted to catch up on sleep, but at the same time I wanted to stay up and talk. Unfortunately, Bulma and I didn't have a whole lot in common. My nerdy little obsession were either nonexistent here, would give away that I'm smarter than a grade schooler, or literally makes up the world, hell the universe, around us and its future. In my effort to think of a topic to converse about, my thoughts became increasingly unfocused until my conscientious finally slipped away.

The rocking of my surrounding roused me from my nap. For the briefest of moments I thought I was back home passed out on the recliner and my father had come home for lunch. This wasn't the case though, as soon as I peel an eye open I see the interior of the capsule plane, crushing my hope. Hiding my crushed hope from the pilot, I readjust myself in the seat. Once upright with both eyes open I noticed that the ground below was still far below us. "Have a nice nap, CJ?"

I lazily nod with a drawn out yawn. Sleep was far more restful now than most nights in the guest room at Capsule Corp.. Surprising, since earlier I was terrified to even be in this flying contraption. But none the less, I fell asleep with few worries or woes invading my slumber. A dream did manage to play out in my sleep, a simple one that made no sense. "Yeah, I had a weird dream though."

She inquired about it so I obliged and told her what I could, "The only part I recall is when I was in a pet store. All of the animals were allowed to roam the store freely, even the fish, but some how everything was hunky dory. Nothing was fighting with anything, and all the animals pretty much just stayed in their cliches. Except there was this one snake that was extremely bright blue that had nothing better to do than follow me around as I shopped for pet supplies for my poodle. I think I left the store after that and the snake still followed me, and it grew bunny ears... I don't know, it was weird."

"That sounds..." Bulma trailed off stifling a laugh, "interesting."

"Hey, its better than having a nightmare... there's two from when I was really little that I still remember," I shrug.

"True," Bulma said trailing off once more, "Anyway, I think we're pretty close to the dragonball out this way, so I'm going to find a spot to land."

My response was another nod and yawn. The plane soon started its decent, and my ears started bugging me again. Had I known that we would be flying, I would have asked for gum. I wonder if the z fighters, or anyone that can fly freely really, ever have inner ear problems or if their ki somehow keeps it normal as they fly. That said, do they also use ki to divert the winds and chilling cold? And what about air? So many questions that won't get answers, not as long as I can make my wish. Oh well.

A short time later we were roaring down the mountain roads back in the compact car. I glanced at the clock above the radio to gauge how long my nap lasted. It showed a quarter till one, and it wasn't even nine in the morning before I fell asleep, so I spent roughly four plus hours napping. Saddest part is, I think that's the longest uninterrupted sleep I've had since I've got here. I think I was able to manage it due to just having Bulma right there.

I stretch in my seat, wishing I had done more of them when we got out of the plane. I'd just have to suck it up for now, just a bit longer. That's what I kept telling myself, just a bit longer. Then I'll get to meet one of the most iconic anime characters ever. A new sense of anxiousness came over me and the parts of my stomach that weren't tied up in tight knots were stuffed with butterflies.

Had I not been going through a horrendous mental breakdown before meeting Bulma, as well as just known before hand, I more than likely would have been just as anxious about meeting her. To be honest I'm fond of a lot of characters in the Dragonball series, heroes and villains alike. To the point I can't really narrow them down to my single favorite character.

Letting out yet another sigh, I lean my head back against the seat trying to think away the dull ache in my neck. With the radio tuned back up I found myself quietly humming after a fruitless effort to alleviate the pain from sleeping balled up in a chair. The station, for reasons unknown to me, not only managed to broadcast way out here but also play nothing but bad songs. The bulk of the artists sounded like boy bands with other songs targeted to teen girls mixed in. So, since I didn't care much for the station's choices, I quietly murmur what lyrics I could from songs I do like.

"You really like to sing, don't you?" the teen interrupted. Heat rushed to my face the moment the first syllable left her mouth. I need to stop singing so close to people, this has happened like three times the past week. I nod weakly to her keeping my face down and blush hidden. Bulma giggled and started to say something before a shrill scream met my ears.

The car made a sharp turn to the left, throwing me against the door while doing so. I groan in pain as the screeched to a halt. Ever since I got here, I don't think a day has gone by that I didn't end up with some new bump or bruise. Bug bites, fist fights, rough-housing animals in the garden, tripping over stuff that I swear wasn't there, and now reckless driving, what a welcoming. I didn't get the chance to voice my complain to the driver, seeing as she started to nervously question a pedestrian, asking if they were alright.

The person grumbled and growled at Bulma, and in a heartbeat panic gripped my mind. The car began to shake and rise up. With one hand clinging to the handle above the window for dear life, I clutch the backpack to my torso bracing for impact. All the while Bulma is screaming her head off. The only reason I can think of for me not screaming along side the teen, was that I got into the mindset of being on a roller coster.

Our brief time spent flying through the air was immediately followed by a crash landing. A crash landing that made the lumpy interior of the door my new mattress. It even got me a blue haired amazon clad in pink to come and crush me. I squirm and struggle to get myself and backpack out from under the collapsed teenager in a daze. Climbing up to the driver's side window, I felt a strange combination of emotions. On one hand I felt over come with excitement, knowing just who it was outside. And on the other, I felt a boiling rage directed at the jerk that threw the car.

Poking my head out of the window my eyes land on none other than the monkey tailed boy who stood ready for a fight. Anger won out of the conflicting emotions and I end up yelling at the kid. "Did you seriously have to throw us?" I shout before pulling myself fully out of the toppled car, "I want to go just one flipping day without ending up with some new bruise!"

My little rant left the boy confused, and the only thing stopping me from going over to smack him upside the head was Bulma calling out my name. Shaking off some of the anger, I help Bulma out of the car. At least it gave me a moment to calm myself and collect my thoughts. Hopping down from the car with Bloomers, the Monkey King came to his senses.

"So there's two of you," the boy stated furrowing his brow, "I still won't let you get my fish, monsters!"

"Monsters?" Bulma asked shooting the boy a confused look, "We're humans, kid. Can't you tell?"

"You're humans?" The boy asked relaxing his stance, Bulma and I give him a nod. The monkey boy circles us, keeping his weapon in hand while studying us. Once making a full 360 he stood in front of Bulma, scrunching his face in contemplation at her. "Are you really sure you're a human? You seem a lot different than me and him," he asked Bulma while pointing to me for reference, "You're taller and scrawnier."

"Yeah, no duh," Bulma rolled her eyes with a short laugh, "That's cause I'm older than either of you. And FYI, we're _both_ girls."

"G-girls? Really?" he inquired, wide-eyed from the information. "Grandpa always said that if I ever met one I should be nice to them." The boy circled around us again, this time lingering behind us. Bulma looked over her shoulder with a slightly haughty look on her face, saying that the boy's grandfather was a wise man. "Well he was," he replied.

In a flash, Bulma's face glowed red. The monkey boy lifted the skirt of her dress to see her lower back, and unintentionally her underwear as well. The teen shouted at the boy, shaming him and demanding to know why he did that. He looked up with innocent eyes simply stating, "I was just seeing if you had a tail."

The irritation written all over Bulma's face faded to a deadpan. The anger I was feeling earlier had also faded, but in my case it was replaced with amusement. I've watched this scene countless times, or rather one very close to it when I binge watch the anime. To actually stand a few feet way from this little _event_ , got me from a small smile to having to suppress a giggle fit. One or two slipped out and caught the attention of the two. I didn't much care for the sudden spotlight, but that didn't stop my giggling. "What's so funny?" came the innocent question from the curious boy.

"N-nothing," I wheeze out in between laughs, "You two are just being big dorks."

Bulma knitted her brow, "Excuse me? How am _I_ being a 'dork'?" All I could do was grin like the cat after preying on a yellow song bird, giggling more at the two's confused expressions. It felt so good to laugh after a week of choking back sobs until night and masking sorrows with fake smiles. It helped remind me that despite all the pain there can still be happiness.

"You just are," was my giggled reply. The potentially youngest of those present asked what a dork was. Letting my laughter die down I answer him, but I can't stop myself from grinning like an idiot, "Someone who acts silly."

A huge grin spread across his face and asked, "Are you a dork too?" Nodding to him and telling him I can be, the boy laughed. Apparently thrilled by my response. "You're a girl too, right?" I gave him another nod and he continued, "Do you have a tail?"

In that moment I became acutely aware of the furry extension of my spine. It was pulled through the belt loops of my shorts with the hem of my shirt and jacket covering it. Part of me regretted that I hadn't cut it off before the trip, chickening out of it to avoid pain. I didn't even have time to debate what answer to give before Bulma butted in and answered for me, "No, she doesn't have a tail. Neither of us have a tail. Why would we?"

The feral child ignored the question, countering with one of his own while pointing to the totaled vehicle, "How did you guys get that monster to do what you wanted?" Bulma and I both say its a car which peek the boy's curiosity. Hopping onto the toppled car he continues, "This is a car? Grandpa told me about these too. Does that mean you came from the city?"

"Yep," The teen confirmed, "just this morning we were in West City."

"Wow!" the monkey boy turned around smiling at us, "Hey, I got an idea. Why don't you two come back to my house? We can have lunch, then talk, then we can play together!"

Bulma's lips pulled down into a frown as her brows furrowed. "If you're thinking of doing anything improper, you can just forget it." I pinch the bridge of my nose at the teenager's statement. Why on Earth she believed a boy who has never even seen another human before besides his grandfather would have an inkling of what she referred to, was beyond me.

Said boy tilted his head asking, "What does 'improper' mean?"

"Bad," cam my blunt response, "to do something improper is to do something bad or not appropriate."

"Oh," the boy said hopping down from the car. "Why would we do anything bad?" Bulma didn't answer. Her face flushed red again and I bit my cheek to hold back snickering. Geez, this girl, super smart and kind when she wants to be, but damn she is the furthest thing from innocent minded.

Shrugging off Bulma's lack of response the Monkey King grabbed his giant catch of the day and lead the way down the road. The genius teenager asked for everyone to wait a second while she checked the radar. I saw a sly look cross her face before we started to follow the boy dragging a fish at least three times his size. "So kid, what's your name anyways?" Bulma asked after a mintue of walking in silence.

"I'm Son Goku," the boy chirped, "But you can just call me Goku. What about you two?"

"I'm CJ," I chirp back, "and that's Bulma."

"Those are funny names," Goku chuckled. Poor Bulma just can help but getting embarrassed today. With a fresh coat of red painted on her cheeks she retorted saying that Goku's name was also abnormal. He just laughed more, "Yeah, but Bulma is an even weirder name."

"I'll have you know that Bulma is a very elegant name," she started off relatively calm only to shout out what she said next, "It's a lot better than Goku, that's for sure!"

"Well, CJ is just my initials," I interject before the teen has a chance to start a screaming match, "It's short for Catherine Jane." Goku laughed saying my name was funny too. I pinch my nose again and sigh, definitely should just stick to my initials here. Today is going to be a long day, I can just tell. Why was I so exited for this trip earlier today?

* * *

 **A/N: Yeah! Chapter Four, and look who showed up! Geez, I rewrote the beginning for this like for times, AND lost the notebook I was writing in. But hey, the new notebook has the draft I used to type up this one so some good came from it. Anyway Chapter five might come a bit later than usual, cause I want to work on a One-Shot relating to an AU about my Xenoverse OC Tundra. You can check out all the stuff related to her on my deviantArt account DorkyLittleDemon**

 **Dragonball © Akira Toriyama**


	6. Chapter Five

Come With Me Now - A Dragonball Fanfic

Chapter Five

* * *

The scent of burning wood floated to my nostrils as the heat of the fire irritated and dried my face. Bulma and I stood a few feet back from our host as he got a fire going under the large fish. My mouth watered at the notion of fish for lunch, having not eaten anything since six in the morning. All I had tiding me over was those two bowls of cereal.

I did have a small concern in regards to the fish however, it being that if my mysterious food allergy stuck with me after my transition from _Homo sapien_ to... Saiyan, will this be a kind of fish that sets it off? I have no clue what kind of fish it was that caused my allergic reaction, I was a toddler at the time and my mom said the dish at the restaurant was lemon pepper fish. Real helpful. I just know it wasn't halibut, salmon, or cod cause I can eat those just fine. I'm going to assume that it wasn't this giant piranha thing and hope for the best.

Once Goku got the fish all set up and cooking, the boy welcomed us inside his little abode. I followed him with Bulma a few steps behind us, checking her radar. Passing through the threshold of the structure, I take note of minimalistic it is. There wasn't much more than the bare necessities, and looked just as it did in the show. Goku ran up to the shelf on opposite wall, staring in wonder at the ornament sitting on the pillow a top the dresser. A second later, Bulma shouted out the name of the ornament before barreling pass Goku and myself to get her hands on it, knocking me down in the process. Did I say Bulma was kind earlier? I meant she's like a bull in a china shop with the manners to match.

Snatching the orange orb from its spot on the shelf Bulma cheers in delight over finding another dragonball. Goku on the other hand, became very upset. He quickly regained his footing and grabbed the teen by her arm demanding that she give back his grandfather. Bulma's excitement faded to a quizzical look she gave the boy. "Your... Grandpa?" she parroted. Utilizing the girl's confusion, Goku liberated his possession from Bulma and gave her a sharp nod. He explained to her that the orb was his grandfather's and that he gave it to Goku to cherish.

"Geez Bulma," I grumble getting back to my feet, "I get that we're looking for the dragonballs, but seriously, you don't need to run at it like a wild animal! That really hurt."

"What's a dragonball?" pipped the monkey boy. Both Bulma and I jerked our attention over to Goku after hearing his question. Bulma was the one to answer his question, saying that what he was holding is one. Glancing down at his possession for a brief moment, Goku looked back up at her shaking his head, "Nuh-uh, this is my grandpa. He gave this to me to remember him by."

"No, she's right, Goku," I concur, "that's one of a set of seven. Bulma and I have two of the others."

Goku was in disbelief, asking if it we were being truthful. To give him visual proof of our honesty, Bulma began rummaging through the small bag at her hip, "Here, come sit down. I'll show you." Reluctantly obeying, Goku sat at the small table, keeping the orange orb close to himself, and I joined him. Bulma pulled out our two dragonballs and set them on the table as she seated herself as well. "See?" she asked in amusement while witnessing the wonder on Goku's face, "We have the two-star ball and the five-star ball. How many stars does yours have?"

Goku looked down ant the dragonball in his hold, counting out loud each of the stars, stopping at four. "Four stars..." he repeated a tad louder this time. Looking back up he shifted his gaze from Bulma to me and back to the teen, asking, "So there's even more like this?"

"Yep," I chirp, "Seven in all. If anyone brings them all together a dragon appears and you can wish for anything you want."

"Wow! Anything, really?"the boy gasped, "I wonder why grandpa never told me about that."

"He might not have known about it, not a lot of people do. You, me and CJ are some of the few people that know about the legend, let alone that it's real," Bulma dismissed before giggling and dancing for joy, "I can't believe I already got three dragonballs! I'll be able to wish for a boyfriend be the end of the month at this rate."

Bulma turned back to Goku, batting her eyes. She asked for the four-star ball in a sickly sweet tone only to have the monkey boy refuse. When that failed, she offered the child a look-see at what was under the skirt of her dress. This also got another refusal in the form of a question as to why would he want to see her 'dirty old fanny'. It was baffling as to why Bulma thought stunts like that would get her the dragonball from a boy like Goku. I hold my tongue, trying not to laugh or make a snarky remark at the mess that played out in front of me.

Running out of options, the genius was struck with a new idea, "Okay then. How about you tag along with CJ and me on our adventure than? You can see lots of different things. The ocean, the desert, cities, you could travel the world and learn so many new things! It would make your grandpa so proud."

Goku blinked a few times before asking if she really believed in what she said. I chime in to answer him with a bright smile on my features, "Yeah! Road trips can be really fun. It could be a great growing experience for you Goku."

"Weeeeell..." Goku drawled while pondering his reply, "Okay. But I'm holding on to grandpa."

"You drive a hard bargain," Bulma teased, "But you got yourself a deal, kiddo. I'll just need to borrow it when we get all the others."

Goku gave a hesitant nod before looking back at what he now knew to be a dragonball in his hands. "So where are the other ones?" he asked. To yet again answer him with visuals, Bulma pulled out the radar and explained that it could track them by the feint EMPs that the dragonballs emit. All of this info, went over Goku's head. "I don't get it, what's an E-N-Z?"

"It's E-M-P," I correct him, "Electromagnetic Pulse. I can't remember a lot about it other than the can really mess with any electronics in range if the pulse is strong enough."

"E-lec-tro-mag-net-ic," Goku repeated, "That sure is a big word, CJ. What other big words do you know?"

"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," I chuckle out, failing to hide my smirk. Bulma rolled her eyes at me saying that it wasn't a word. Being the smart-ass I am, I took this as a dare to continue. I heard my mother play the song enough times to at least recite the opening bit, "Even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious, if you say it loud enough you'll always sound precocious."

"Okay, what is that?" Bulma interupted, which is good cause that was all I can remember, "That sounds rehearsed or something. What is that from?"

"It's a song from a movie my mom used to watch as a kid," I shrug, "She played a lot of songs like that, and now they're stuck in my head."

"Stuck in your head?" Goku shouted, clearly not knowing wait the figure of speech meant, "How did it get there? How do you get it out?"

"It's a figure of speech, Goku," I say chuckling at the boy's dramatics, "It's not something actually stuck inside my head. It just means I've heard them enough times to have memorized them."

"You guys sure know a lot of stuff," The Monkey King stated, "Do you know martial arts too?"

"Nope," Bulma said, "I don't, never interested me. I'd much rather be working on new gadgets or out shopping than getting all gross and sweaty from kicking and punching."

"I don't know any martial arts either," I answer without giving any reasoning.

A short time later, after changing topics several times, the heavenly scent of cooked fish floated to my nose. I could feel my stomach shift and churn, begging for food without vocalizing it just yet. Goku must have smelled the fish as well, because his stomach had no quarrel in announcing its hunger with a loud roar. The rumble had silenced the conversation in a heartbeat, but the boy was unfazed by it. He sprang to his feet claiming that lunch must be close to ready. He bolted out the door, presumably to check on the fish.

Before we could even budge to follow him outside, Goku rushed back indoors to get plates and cutting utensils, though no other kind of cutlery. After rushing out a second time, Bulma and I exchange glances, wordlessly asking the other if we should get up to follow him. The answer was no, seeing as the energetic monkey ran back inside balancing three plates piled high with cooked fish.

We were given no forks, spoons, knives, nothing. There wasn't any kind of silverware to eat with, making the fish finger food. Bulma had more of a problem with it than I did, and Goku couldn't care less if he had silverware or not. I was just happy to have something to eat, and boy did I eat. It took maybe twenty minutes for Goku and I to pick that fish clean, while Bulma only had the one plate. She didn't even eat all of that either, she gave most of it to me, I think she only ate some as a thank you for Goku's hospitality.

Either way, with the fish devoured and everything accounted for, we three amigos can set off for adventure! Since abandoning the wrecked car, Bulma tossed a new capsule vehicle for us to drive, a motorized bike. I tried to convince her into choosing a different capsule, namely one with more wheels, but the girl genius had her heart set on this bike.

A few moment spent explaining to Goku that the bike was not a monster later, everyone climbed onto the thing. It was extremely cramped on the tiny thing, with Bulma up front, Goku in the middle, and myself shoved into the back. If there's one thing about the bike I'm thankful for, it's the curved glass top that prevents me from just falling off the back.

When I was little, like six or seven, I remember going to Oklahoma to visit my great grandparents for Thanksgiving and occasionally Christmas. While there my little sister and I would bug every single adult there to take us driving on the four-wheelers, or ATVs if you will. I remember having so much fun on those things, and took every opportunity I had to go out on them. I even remember one time, I believe we had just gotten back from a ride around the pastures, my five year old little sister climbed back up on one and started the thing. All the adults panicked, scrambling to get her off it and turn off the four-wheeler, and I just laughed. I have nothing but good memories about those four-wheelers. I say this because that was fun. I loved those things. This bike on the other hand, not so much.

Bulma seems to like going as fast as possible. Normally I'm somewhat alright with that, but on a vehicle with only two wheels, the speed demon driving terrified me. For a while it wasn't too bad, the road was flat and I got used to the speed. And then we got to the hills. I clung to Goku praying for this nightmare of a roller-coaster to end. All the ups and downs made me feel sick to my stomach, if this didn't end soon I'm going to loose my lunch, maybe even breakfast. It wasn't until I could feel a sense of weightlessness, that I started to scream. The boy in front cheered, clearly enjoying the ride. Oh how I envied him in this moment, so unaware of how dangerous and horrible this actually is.

The bike shook like crazy upon its crash landing back to Earth. Thank goodness there was a moment of stillness after landing as Bulma tried to recollect her bearings. In this moment I could feel my heart attempting to beat out of my chest and all the hairs on my hidden tail standing on end. Flinching when Bulma revved the engine to continue, when she changed her mind saying she needed a pit stop a heavy sigh of relief left my lungs. I let go of Goku after the teen got off the bike, and fall off myself as shot nerves made it difficult to keep my balance on the thing. Goku tried to follow Bulma behind the bushes, but I managed to squeak out a no.

"Why not?" the boy asked not knowing anything about bathroom etiquette.

Getting back onto shaky legs, I reply, "She needs to go pee. And for a lot of society, especially for girl, its done in private." Goku starts to play the 'why game', but before I could clearify social norms and taboos for him and ear-piercing shriek got my heart pounding again. Bulma cried out for us and we dashed over to her, Goku mumbling his confusions while doing so.

On the other side of the bushes and trees a vicious monster lumbered over us two small Saiyans with Bulma held tightly in one of the beast's winged arms. I fully expected my heart to be pumping ice through my veins as fear overtook me after seeing the beast, but that wasn't the case. The opposite was true, fire instead boiled my blood and anger twisted my face into an ugly scowl. The small amount of puzzlement as to why I felt rage over fear was give an answer that further fueled my rage. This monster was going to hurt her. This monster was going to kill her and eat her. I can't let that happen.

The boy to my left harbored no anger, only curiosity, though the boy also doesn't know the monster's intentions. Pointing to the damsel in distress, Goku asked if the monster was one of Bulma's friends. The grounded flying lizard gave Goku and I a large sharp-toothed smirk, "Y-yeah. We're friends. In fact we have some diner plans-"

"Liar!" I hiss with venom dripping from every letter of the word, "You aren't Bulma's friend, you're just a monster that wants to eat her!"

The lizard flashed me a larger smirk exposing even more of his jagged teeth. He took hold of Bulma by his tail, snickering, "That's some pretty good intuition you got there, kid. Too bad you can't fly." He raised his webbed arms, preparing to fly off. What must have been milliseconds before he pushed off the ground, I charged for him grabbing hold of one of his legs. Screaming at Goku to get the bike, the beast took off with Bulma and myself, laughing all the while, "Two for the price of one, what a deal!"

While high above the ground, the beast used his free foot to scratch at and try to grab hold of me, tearing holes in my hoodie in the process. I scratched back, something the monster didn't much care for, and since he was having a difficult time getting at me, he took his frustrations out on Bulma. Squeezing her tighter and harming her for something I did. A pang of guilt struck me as she writhed about in pain. This wasn't meant to happen, not like this. Bulma was never supposed to get hurt. It's all my fault. I'm not meant to be here, and because I am, Bulma is getting hurt. She's getting hurt because of me.

I cry out, begging him to stop squeezing the life out of her, only to have them fall on deaf ears. A new wave of rage crashes over me after he showed no signs of mercy. I bite into the flesh of the monster's leg, hoping this new pain will distract him from causing further harm to Bulma. I couldn't even break the scaled hide of the lizard, but that didn't stop me from biting down as hard as I could on multiple places. I anticipated the creature to try and scratch me again, or hurt Bulma more. What I got however was an ear-full of a boy shouting "Power Pole, extend!"

A heavy, _thwack_ echoed in the sky before I felt that weightless feeling again. I dared to look down, and I wish I didn't. Everything was plummeting toward the ground below and my shrill scream burst from my lungs, cutting through the air alongside another. Something tight wrapped around my wrist just before it moved to snake its way around the middle of my back. The ground zoomed towards my face, or the other way around really, and I shielded my view with my arms. I waited for the splat, only to have it never come. I chanced a look down and saw I was still in the air, inches above the grassy earth but unmoving.

I was bewildered for a short instant before Goku's voice met my ears, "Gosh, you're really strange, CJ. That big ol' monster didn't scare you, but as soon as he stopped carrying you two off, you panicked."

"Excuse me?" I bark, twisting up to look at him, "I happen to be afraid of heights, particularly free falling from them. And I'm not some amazing acrobatic martial artist like you, monkey boy! I can't save myself from them."

Wriggling out of Goku's hold I plop to the ground, still shaking from two adrenaline rushes. I try not to let my subsiding levels of the hormone get the better of me and halter my ability to move as I look to find Bulma. The search was short lived as a distressed whine helped to point out where the teen was. And sure enough, there was Bulma. Across the canyon. Hanging from the Power Pole lodged into the face of the rock.

"Hang on Bulma, we'll get you back here safely!" I shout to the teenager.

"Oh, haha! Very funny," she whined, "What else am I supposed to do?"

I groan back, "I didn't mean that as a joke, Bulma."

"Just hurry up and save me!" Bulma cried while pressing her legs into one another, "I'm having a crisis over here."

"Power Pole, extend!" Goku ordered. The pole obeyed and a second later it stretched to the our side of the canyon. Goku jumped up, dislodging it from the rock and carefully balanced Bulma on the other end of it. He gave it a second order to retract, and it obeyed once more, carrying Bulma over the gulch with it. Once all three of us were back on solid earth the Monkey King shot us both a huge grin, "There we go! Everyone's safe and sound."

With Bulma safely back and the monster out cold at the bottom of the canyon, I finally let the tears spring to my eyes. The guilt and worry I feel over the pain caused to Bulma are no longer being pushed back by rage and adrenaline. "Are you okay?" I barely manage to babble, "That monster started to hurt you after I scratched him back. I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for you to get hurt, please be okay."

"H-Hey, CJ. It's not your fault," Bulma said with a meek smile, "I'll be fine, just a few bruises at most."

"Are you sure?" I ask, still worried and still feeling as if it was my fault.

"Positive," she said with a brighter smile, "I'm just glad I had you and Goku here." The aforementioned boy laughed with a big grin on his face, and I had enough of my guilt eased to crack a smile as well. Things may have gotten a little off course, but everything is going to be okay.

I wipe away the tears with the sleeve of my hoodie as we walk back to the road. Not even taking two steps, Bulma's face burns a bright red when a small squishy noise sounds out when she steps down. Goku asked what the sound was, causing Bulma's face to become a new shade of red. I told Goku that Bulma must have stepped accidentally stepped in a puddle and hand the poor girl my mostly in tact jacket. She gave me her thanks and tied the sleeves around her waist.

"Since you managed to wreck another one of my vehicles," Bulma dryly pointed out glancing at the piece of scrap metal that had dropped from the sky, "I think we should walk for a bit, until I feel like you won't destroy another one of my capsule cars, Goku." While he just laughed it off with an; oops, I saw through Bulma's naggy facade and knew the real reason why she didn't want to drive just yet, and I couldn't blame her.

We got maybe thirty feet away from the crashed bike before Goku pipped up. "Hey CJ," he called out. I hummed, letting him know I was listening and he followed it with a question, "Why are you scared of heights but not that monster?"

That seemed like an odd inquiry, but I guess he's just a kid with a lot of different questions on a variety of subjects. My fight or flight response is just the most recent thing to come up. "I never said I wasn't scared of that overgrown flying lizard," I answer, "I guess in that moment, I was more angry than scared and chose to fight rather than run away."

"But you did say you don't know martial arts," Goku stated walking parallel to me, "Did your grandpa not train you?"

I chuckle at that, "My grandpa was a construction worker, one of them was anyway."

"You have more that one grandpa?" The boy question further, astonished by my reply.

"Yep, I got two. My mom's dad, and my dad's dad," I giggle, "And neither of them know martial arts. No one in my family was or is a martial artist."

"Oh..." Goku murmured while pondering something. Most likely the parts of my response he doesn't quiet understand. A huge smile broke across his face as if he just thought of something amazing. "Want me to train you than?"

I stop dead in my tracks, my brain needing all energy and concentration available to process the question. Train? As in teach me martial arts? By Goku? _The_ Goku? This can't be... Really? Did I hear that right? Train me? Have Goku train me? Martial Arts? "...What?"

"I said, 'want me to train you then?' My grandpa taught me and I can teach you," Goku reiterated, stopping a few paces ahead of me. Bulma kept right on walking, but that didn't matter at the moment. Goku's proposal did.

He's offering to train me. ME! Never in my wildest dreams would I dare to believe this could happen. If someone were to tell me months ago that one day Son Goku would offer to train me, I would have told them to lay off playing Xenoverse for a few days. Hell I could have been told this _yesterday_ and still have call the person a liar. I just, I'm having a hard time accepting this information and offer as real. This isn't a once in a lifetime kind of thing. This is a once throughout all of existence kind of thing. He may not be the insanely strong and skilled fighter he is at the end of Z and in the newest movies, but this is still Goku. And only a fool would decline his offer.

"That," I started, regaining control over my voice and movement, "That would be awesome, Goku. Thank you." We started to close the gap between ourselves and Bulma, and Goku shot me a goofy grin. Saying it was no problem, he asked when I wanted to start. I took a second to think of a good time, "Either after we've stopped for the night or tomorrow morning." He nodded and a few minutes later Bulma shouted back at us. Apearently she got tired of walking after five minutes tops and had 'forgiven Goku'. The reasoning didn't really matter, at least we could drive again, and hopefully not on another stupid bike this time.

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 **A/N: Look guys, a new chapter! Also got a bit of news for the story and it's progress, I'll be on vacation for most of October with no desktop or laptop. So, while I plan on writing the first draft some while on vacation, it might take longer than normal to get it posted. Any way, thank you for reading this, I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far, I love writing this and I have millions of ideas for this that stretch way into DBZ... That will be so many years down the line at this rate OTL**

 **Dragonball © Akira Toriyama**


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